1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to inspection devices and particularly to a device to inspect small cylindrical components for surface defects.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Superior quality control of manufactured goods requires inspection of each component of the goods. Such inspection can be carried out manually but preferably is carried out in an automated manner to facilitate the inspection process.
Recently, cigarettes having a short fuel element, e.g. carbon fuel element, have been developed, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,714,082, issued Dec. 22, 1987 to Banerjee et al. The fuel element must have a consistent shape in order to be properly assembled into the final product. Advantageously, the fuel element is relatively small, for example, about 10 mm in length and about 4.5 mm in diameter. Such an element is considered to be defective if there is any loss of material on the outside surface of the part that is more than 0.2 mm deep (measured radially) and which manifests itself on at least one end of the element.
It would thus be desirable to provide a process and apparatus to identify any such defect and otherwise for detecting defects which are present on at least one end of any small cylindrical element. It is to be noted that image analysis, per se, is not new and has been used to determine the quality of components. However, there is no known system for using known image analysis techniques for easily and effectively detecting defects in the surface of the end of an article. There is, therefore, a need for such an inspection apparatus.